May 19-29, 2018
Part of my education as a social worker was going to Korea in order to experience how organizations are working abroad. Going to Korea has been a great opportunity for me not for leisure but more on life learnings.
Kkottongnae Brother of Jesus, The institution that invited us for this trip to experience their Love in Action School Program. Though it was founded and run by Catholic priest, their social welfare service to the people in the community really amazed me.
Their intervention was literally from womb to tomb. They care much about those children with special needs. Some of them joined in the ASEAN sport competition. Although abortion is prohibited in Korea still many women are doing and practicing it in different reasons, some are just left anywhere but this congregation put up a cemetery for the aborted babies so that they will be buried properly fetus were just left in that cemetery.
Abandoned children were brought to the ‘House of Angels’ were children staying there were processed for adoption. The youngest was four (4) months old and the eldest was 7 yrs. Old. We were not allowed to take pictures since children there are for adoption.
Kkottongnae community has a house for children with special needs, on different level. The ratio was 2 teachers for 4 kids.
Some special children who are bigger and finished their high school have the bakery where they bake the breads for Kkottongnae community. Certificate were given to them if they finished equivalent to Philippine NCII.
Another experience that I will never forget was assisting the patients in the hospital. I really admired those people who are doing their jobs in the hospital the care and their passion in taking care of these people. Most of the patient in this hospital were abandoned by their family. The unit where we are assigned was those patients who are just waiting for their time of death but still they were treated very well and they don’t treat them as clients but as a family. Bathing them every day, putting lotion after bathe, fixing their beds and cleaning their rooms is what we did. They have their own columbary for the dead, and those who died on the streets with coordination with the police were also cremated and buried there.
The lesson that I learned from them was their heart for volunteerism and they are all doing this with love.
Ghie
